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• Driving tickets will zip through electronic lane in River Falls
• River Falls Library lower floor open

By Phil Pfuehler, Editor

It could be a sign of the times, or a sign of things to come.

The River Falls Municipal Court and five other municipal courts statewide will join a pilot project next year designed to streamline how driving violations are recorded by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

"It's really a paperless system," Deputy Clerk Cindy McKahan said. "The goal is to improve the speed and accuracy with which tickets from the police that go through our court get entered in the huge data bank used by the DOT."

Right now that process can take weeks. McKahan said the DOT in Madison has a skilled, helpful but overburdened staff. In recent years the DOT has hired out the data entry work, but McKahan said this has led to more mistakes turning up on drivers' records.

Sometimes a mistake can be as simple as inserting the wrong middle initial for a common last name like Smith or Johnson. Suddenly a different person has a speeding ticket or an underage drinking citation on his record.

Other mistakes are subtle but still important when it comes to driving records.

McKahan said a typical one is when amendments to citations are overlooked. An example would be a person ticketed by police for going 15 mph over the speed limit who gets the violation reduced after a conference with the city attorney to 9 mph over the limit.

After tickets and their municipal court dispositions are finished, they are mailed to the DOT. They are reviewed by the DOT, contracted out for data entry, and then sent back for the DOT to review again before the information becomes officially recorded.

Under the paperless pilot project, River Fall Municipal Court employees McKahan and Clerk of Court Lori Gutting, using a redesigned software package, will make the data entries directly to the DOT.

The software system has automated safeguards that instantly identify some mistakes.

McKahan and Gutting will receive state-sponsored training before the yearlong pilot project starts in River Falls in February.

Details in this week's Journal.

By Katie Chaffee, Reporter

As he rose to speak at the opening ceremony for the Public Library's lower level last Thursday, Library Foundation President Kirby Symes confessed that while he was asked "to say a few words," in reality he's not usually a man of few words.

Nearly made speechless by the elegance of the newly created library space, Symes managed to make a good showing as he talked about how building plans were changed at the last minute to add the lower level.

Although the upper story was completed late in 1997, the lower level stood empty and unfinished since then, waiting for the money needed to complete it.

Symes, whose mother Gladys served as city librarian from 1955-1968, acknowledged the late Dr. Eugene and Dorothy Kleinpell, the late Howard and Blanche Collins, and the Bayport Andersen Foundation for generous cash gifts that bolstered the drive to finish the library. Funding for the lower level also came from city businesses and residents in the form of taxes, and from gifts to the River Falls Library Foundation, Symes said.

Just as in those frequent public television statements, this "shining crown jewel of the community" is "brought to you by viewers like you," he quipped, adding his sincere thanks to those who made it possible.

Symes said the next step, at least for the Library Foundation, will be to "create an endowment for the facility so they don't have to run to the city for $100 every time they want to bring something here."

The "something" Symes was referring to -- and hopes to see among lower level uses -- are traveling shows and exhibits such as those provided by the Smithsonian Institute.

Library Director Nancy Miller and Mayor Eric Amundsen both recognized the people of the River Falls area for their support.

"It's you who make this possible," Amundsen said.

"This is a gift to ourselves," Miller noted, saying she is proud to live in a community that values education so highly.

Library Board Chairperson Linda Kirk thanked the River Falls architectural firm, Frisbie Architects, for doing an outstanding job within some difficult parameters.

After spending a great deal of time determining just what River Falls residents would like to see the space used for, the board gave architects a long list of what needed to be included in the plans.

Not only did they get everything in, but their work resulted in a beautiful and flexible space that contains moveable panels for customizing meeting space, a small kitchenette, security equipment, and portable staging and walls for exhibits and performances, Kirk said.